Covering topics on religion, philosophy and life, this blog attempts to make biblical truths simple for the average believer. As porridge is soft to aid digestion, so the blog contents are easily understood.
However, there is also meaty stuff for those who aspire to go deeper. The relevance of the Bible in our daily life (areas such as finances, sex, marriage, health and emotional healing) is also dealt with.

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Thursday, 21 November 2013

Charisma and character are important qualities in an
outstanding leader. Which is more important?

Charisma
is a wonderful quality that leaders should have. Those with charisma have what
it takes to inspire and influence others.

However,
charisma should not be a substitute for character. The danger of charisma—whether it is personal magnetism or the
capacity to perform miracles—arises when it is
used as a cover-up for truth
or character flaws. *

Did
Jesus have much charisma? The prophet Isaiah
described Jesus as having “no form or majesty that we should look at
Him and no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isaiah 53:2b). Whatever
charisma Jesus had was his ability to draw great crowds through his miracles
rather than external
appearance.

Charisma
may take us places but it takes character to keep us there or prevent us from
falling. When we attain fame, fortune and power, will we be able to hold on to
the values we once cherished as dear?

The
danger of charisma without character becomes clear when we consider the fact that prominent leaders, miracle
workers and TV evangelists have fallen into disrepute due to gold, glory and girls. **

How
challenging it is to hold on to our values once we have attained success—whether it’s within or outside the church. Indeed,
it is difficult to be modern-day Josephs.

However,
it does notmean that charisma is unimportant. Leaders with good character
who already wield considerable influence over others will be able to go even
further if they had charisma as well. It’s sad that some leaders with
impeccable character—and doctrine correct
to the dot—are spiritually as dry as the
bones in the valley in Ezekiel’s vision.

Finally, what do you think is the true measure of
a Christian leader? Is it based on his eloquence,
public image or popularity as judged by the number of followers and ‘likes’ he
gets on social media? Does it rest on how much anointing or power he has? Or
how many spectacular miraculous feats he can perform? Are there not other important considerations such as character,
intimacy with God, obedience, self-denial and faithfulness? The foregoing does
not imply that charisma and spiritual gifts are unimportant. The moral of the
story is that we must not put the cart before the horse.

Not
everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to
me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name
drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them
plainly, ‘Inever knew you. Away
from me, you evildoers!’

(Matthew
7: 21-23).

Those
who think that they are perpetually in God’s good books just because they have
been used by God to perform extraordinary miracles would need to sit up, pause
and reflect.

If
you put me in a spot and make me choose one or the other, I would prefer ‘character’
over ‘charisma’.

FOOTNOTES:

Disclaimer: This article does not to refer
to any particular church denomination. Praise God, there are many church leaders
who have both charisma and character, no matter which
church they come from. Conversely, anyone—from
whichever church—can fall into sin and
disrepute (1 Corinthians 10:12, Jeremiah 17:9).

The
charisma
in the article above is meant to refer to the following:

The termcharisma has two senses: (1) compelling
attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others, (2) a divinely
conferred power or talent (Source: Wikipedia).

According
to the Free Online Dictionary, charismais defined as:

(a) A rare personal quality attributed to leaders who arouse
fervent popular devotion and enthusiasm.

(b) Personal magnetism or charm.

(c) An
extraordinary power, such as the ability to perform miracles, granted by the
Holy Spirit.

* Definition
of cover-up: a planned effort to hide a
dishonest, immoral, or illegal act or situation.

RELATED POSTS

CHARACTER
AND REPUTATION

Character,
a person’s moral or ethical strength, is undeniably more important than reputation,
which is what others think of a person.But does it mean that reputation
is unimportant?

FEET OF CLAY

As leaders
are the key people who make or break an organisation, they certainly deserve
our respect and support. But we should not “idolise” them to the extent we think they can do no
wrong even in the face of glaring evidence to the contrary. Like all men,
they too are weak and fallible.

Monday, 18 November 2013

It’s great to experience God’s unmerited favour. But we must
not stop there. There are other ways to gain His favour.

As believers, have we come to a point in our
faith walk when we say to ourselves, “Thank you God for taking me as I am,” and
then happily go on our way? After all, as some teachers say, believers always enjoy
God’s unmerited favour—grace beyond measure—whatever we do or don't do.

If that is so, do we need to improve
ourselves in areas such as self-discipline and character? **

Is there a need to strive for excellence? Does
it mean we just relax and enjoy His unmerited favour as “our plane has already
been set on autopilot”?

While it is true that God shows us unmerited
favour, we should not dismiss the importance of personal
responsibility in our lives.

Though we don’t earn a place in heaven though
good works (Ephesians 2:8-9), what we do with our lives after conversion matters
a lot. How we live out our lives determines whether we receive God’s special favour or not.

Here are some instances when we touch God’s
heart and gain His “merited favour”.

OBEDIENCE

“Jesus says, ‘Whoever has my
commandments andkeeps them, he it is who loves me. Andhe who loves mewill be loved by my Father, and I will love him andmanifest myself to him”’(John 14:21).

It is clear that, when we obey God, we experience
His love and special favour. How wonderful it is when God manifests Himself to
us—when His reality leaves little or no room for
doubt.

SEEKING GOD

“You will seek me and find me, when you seek mewith all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

“Blessed are those who hunger andthirstfor righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew
5:6).

When we thirst for God as much as a deer pants
for streams of water (Psalm 42:1), we will experience an infilling that will quench our
heart’s deepest desires.

BROKENNESS

“The
sacrifices of God area broken spirit;a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17).

“He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but
whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).

A broken
and contrite heart is one with deep remorse for sin and a genuine desire to
turn away from sin and follow God’s ways. It sees the wrongdoing as a violation
of God’s law (Psalm 51:4) and does not try to rationalise it away. It recognises
the fact that God knows our true motives and intents. He knows everything,
including how sincere we are about change (Psalm 51:6).

A broken,
contrite heart and true repentance enable us to continue enjoying God’s unbroken fellowship and favour in our lives. More on true repentance: http://bit.ly/15qK4KI

PRAYER

“And when he had taken the scroll, the four
living creatures and the twenty-four eldersfell down before
the Lamb,each holding a
harp, andgolden bowls full of
incense,which are the prayers of the saints” (Revelation
5:8).

The prayers of saints that ascend to heaven are
collected in bowls. Obviously, if we pray a lot, our bowls will be full and may
even overflow. Thus, when we pray, it is credited to our account in heaven.

Similarly, Cornelius, the Roman centurion, who feared
God, gave alms and prayed constantly, received God’s special favour. He and his
household were saved after Peter preached the Good News to them.

GOOD WORKS

It is clear that everyone who gets to heaven
will get different measures of rewards according to their good works.

"Look, I am coming soon, bringing my
reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds” (Revelation
22:12).

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters,
stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of
the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain” (1
Corinthians 15:58).

Good works won’t save us but they determine the quantum of our rewards in the hereafter.

Epilogue

We can choose to know Him from afar or know Him
intimately (James 4:8).

Many among the crowd who trailed Jesus did so because
they wanted blessings and healing. But the disciples were different in that they received
special favour. Apart from enjoying the close company and guidance of the
Master, they had the privilege of knowing the full meaning behind the parables.

Of the twelve disciples, only three—Peter,
James and John—were chosen to catch a glimpse of glory when Jesus
was transfigured. And of the three, only John had the privilege to lie close to
Jesus’ breast. Peter and James may have excelled in many other qualities
compared to John. But the latter excelled in love and intimacy with the Master.

We can be like Moses who knew God’s ways; or we
can be like the Israelites who knew God’s acts (Exodus 33:13, Psalm 103: 7).

Are we easily satisfied? Or spiritual hunger impels us to want more?

Well, we all have a choice. Are we merely satisfied
with His unmerited favour alone? Or we think there is something much more that God
has in store for us. And that can only be attained when we die to
self, seek to know His ways and strive for excellence(John 12:24,
Philippians 3:10, 13-14).

When we
make the effort, we gain God’s special favour—not by default but by merit.

As believers, we have to play our part. Work out
our salvation with fear and trembling. And then God will work out His will in
our lives (Philippians 2:12-13, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27).

Footnotes:

** It does not mean we can really change ourselves
for the better. It’s the Word which transforms us; it’s Holy Spirit who changes
us (Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 3:18).

RELATED POSTS

MEASURING PROGRESS

How do we measure progress in our
spiritual journey? Have we lived up to our full potential?

Didn’t Jesus warn that
“the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who
enter by it are many” (Matthew 7:13)?

Didn’t Jesus warn that
“not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall
enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew
7:21)?

The
doctrine of false grace is part of the overall cloud of deception that comes upon believers in these tumultuous
end times. *

We should be wise up by preparing
ourselves against deception. Jesus warns that deception is a prominent feature
during the end times (The Olivet Discourse).

“For many will come in
my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many”
(Matthew 24:5). “For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform
great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect”
(Matthew 24:24).

Childlike faith is commendable. But there are dangers when we are
trustful and naïve like a child. http://bit.ly/1ibYdky

Satan is like a
roaring lion who seeks to devour the weak and unwary (1 Peter 5:8). Believers
have to be wise—in fact, extremely
vigilant and discerning—if they want to stand
up against deception in these last days.

Error is so skilled at
imitating truth that the two are often being mistaken for each other. And even
theelect—supposedly mature
leaders—can be deceived. If
leaders are deceived, don’t you think the flock will fare even worse?

That is why it is so
important to go back to basics. Be like the Bereans:

“Now the Berean Jews
were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received
the message with great eagerness and examined
the Scriptures every day to see if what
Paul said was true” ( Acts 17:11).

By
equipping ourselves with a sound knowledge and understanding of God’s Word,
taking into consideration the whole counsel of
God, we will not be easily deceived by false teachings.

Jesus
said, “If you obey my teaching, you are really my disciples” (John 8:31). But how are we to obey Him unless we earnestly study His Word and have a firm
grasp of it? Therefore we need to be diligent to present ourselves approved to God,
as workers who do not need to be ashamed, rightly dividingthe word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

It is imperative for leaders to confront false
teachings during these perilous end times. If they can identify with Paul the
seriousness of the task they have been entrusted with—to feed the flock
with solid teaching from the whole of God’s Word(Acts 20:27) as
well as tocorrect and rebuke heresy(2 Timothy 4:2)—then people will not be so easily led astray
from the faith.http://bit.ly/1aFKueb

"Faith is good only when it engages truth; when it is made to rest upon falsehood it can and often does lead to eternal tragedy." – A. W. Tozer, theologian

“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” – Soren Kierkegaard, philosopher

Footnotes:

Dr
Michael Brown wrote in “Charisma News” on “Confronting the Error of Hyper-Grace”:

Accidental overdose can happen as many flu drugs alsocontain Paracetamol as an ingredient. So if one
takes Paracetamol for pain and fever and also a flu drug (with Paracetamol),
overdose may occur.

The
dose matters so much when we take
medicine. Even something good, like Paracetamol, may be dangerous when taken in
excess.

An
analogy exists in the spiritual realm. Grace is something good but when it is being overemphasised,
it may be dangerous for our spiritual well-being.

Being sinners, we all
need grace. In fact, lots of grace. No right thinking believer questions the
need for grace—before or
after conversion.

And what's positive
about a teaching which emphasises grace is that it has
welcomed with open arms many sinners into church. These people would often be
alienated and judged as “spiritual misfits” by a legalistic church.

But harbouring an
image of God that is agreeable and attractive—that
He is always gracious, loving, merciful—has its dangers. http://bit.ly/1fN2LyX

A wrong picture of God
may have deadly consequences. Thinking erroneously that He is always meek and
mild may prove disastrous when we’re confronted by God the judge at
the end of our life journey or when Christ returns (Hebrews 9:27, 1 Peter 4:7,
17).

Overemphasis on grace leads to the following assumptions.
Do check out for yourselves whether the following premises in red are valid:

Once we are saved, we will remain saved (OSAS, once saved always saved, eternal security).http://bit.ly/GM5Srz